Despite off-field distractions, Royals break historic scoreless drought in win over Rays

Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield looked to the sky, clapped his hands and let his shoulders sag as he crossed the plate in the bottom of the third inning Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

One run lit up the scoreboard behind him, the first the Royals had scored in 45 innings. Seconds earlier, he had homered on a 1-1 pitch, turning a fastball from Rays starter Alex Cobb into a solo shot to give the Royals their first lead in four games.

It was their first sigh of relief in what became a 6-2 victory for the Royals.

The second exhale came in the fifth inning, when Mike Moustakas drove in his first run since Aug. 16 against the Athletics in Oakland, Calif. Jorge Bonifacio gave the Royals a bit more breathing room in the sixth with a 419-foot blast of his own, one that would keep starter Jake Junis in line for the sixth win of his career, even when the Rays cut a two-run lead in half.

Eric Hosmer added three runs of insurance when he cranked his 22nd homer of the season. Salvador Perez finally had good reason to fill a few Gatorade cups, so he dumped water over Hosmer’s head.

Later, Drew Butera attempted to serenade the clubhouse on an old-school microphone with some of Tony Bennett’s greatest hits. It didn’t go over well with either of Lorenzo Cain’s toddlers.

But in the end, the Royals snapped a five-game losing streak and a scoreless drought, showing resilience on a day that could have been the worst in an already-tough month.

“It’s been a rough couple of games,” Merrifield said. “People don’t seem to realize we’re still right in the middle of this thing. We got a month and some change left. … We got a good shot at this thing. We believe in ourselves and we’re going to keep chugging away. Hopefully, we can build on this.”

The Royals are 10-17 in August, their first sub-.500 month since they started the season 10-20. They have gone from two games out of first place to 9  1/2 games behind the American League Central-leading Indians, who were rained out Tuesday.

Adding to the drama, ace Danny Duffy spoke hours earlier about a DUI citation he received Sunday outside a Burger King in Overland Park.

Instead of folding under the “distraction,” as Duffy described his situation in that press conference, the Royals rallied.

“Whit hit the homer and you look in the dugout and guys are hugging and celebrating,” manager Ned Yost said. “We broke that streak. That was good.”

For the second start in a week, Junis showed poise on the mound. He struck out a career-high eight batters in 5  2/3 innings and scattered three hits. After hitting a batter in the first inning, he retired 11 straight. Corey Dickerson broke through with the Rays’ first hit of the game in the fifth.

Junis received help when a challenge started by Royals replay coordinator Bill Duplissea overturned a hit-by-pitch call in the sixth. On a Rays hit and run, Lucas Duda struck out as Kevin Kiermaier slid into second base. Umpires did not see that the ball struck Duda after the swing, stopping the play. Kiermaier returned to first after a 1:39 review, Duplissea’s third successful challenge of the night.

Yost removed Junis when Kiermaier reached third on a two-out single by Evan Longoria in the sixth inning. Yost didn’t want Junis to take a chance with Rays cleanup hitter Logan Morrison, a lefty who has hit 32 homers this season.

Like he did in Thursday’s game against the Rockies, the loss that kicked off the Royals’ recent woes, Yost opted for a matchup with left-handed reliever Scott Alexander. One run was charged to Junis when Morrison dumped an RBI single into center field, but Alexander worked around a subsequent walk and got out of the inning relatively unscathed.

“The thing that was so gut-wrenching to me a little bit in the decision making was is this is where it started,” Yost said. “Junis on the mound in the sixth inning, pitching great, two-run lead at that point. Almost the same situation. We ended up losing that game. That was definitely in the back of my mind.”

The Rays threatened to tilt the scoreboard out of the Royals’ favor when reliever Brandon Maurer left an 88 mph slider in the lower third of the zone for the Rays’ Brad Miller, who roped it to right field for a solo homer in the seventh.

But Hosmer’s three-run, 408-foot rocket to left-center field in the bottom of the inning made sure that the Royals could gain ground on Tampa Bay in the wild-card race and keep pace with the Twins, who beat the White Sox and own the second wild-card spot.

“We needed that game really bad,” Junis said.

Royals 6, Rays 2

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Despite off-field distractions, Royals break historic scoreless drought in win over Rays."